girlgeniusfandomcom-20200214-history
Forum:2018-06-25 (Monday)
Discussion for comic for . Working on your Doctorate in Mad Science? Consider making Girl Genius your dissertation topic. ---- Well, at least the uncertainty over the position of the Higgs Bosun is over. -- Martin The Mess (talk) 04:07, June 25, 2018 (UTC) : (Oh, you..) I admit, I was wondering if the Foglios had maybe forgotten about him. --Geoduck42 (talk) 06:43, June 25, 2018 (UTC) So, is Vole in that sub, too? Of course the appearance of Higgs is the main event today, but it's also interesting to see Wooster throwing his weight around. Usually either he's working hard at not being noticed, or he's in trouble for having messed up somehow. In particular, "I wish I'd brought more men" is something a military leader would think (or a police leader), not a spy. I suppose it's different when he's on his home turf and so not actually spying. But it's too bad he had to get red in the face and loud in order to throw his weight around; that's not the British stereotype that the Foglios have been having fun with. Higgs does a better job of acting British! (But don't get me wrong; I'm delighted that Wooster does have some weight to throw around.) Bkharvey (talk) 10:44, June 25, 2018 (UTC) P.S. In the last panel, why isn't Tarvek looking as happy as we all are on seeing Higgs? I get that the larger situation is fraught, but still, didn't you smile when Higgs turned up? Bkharvey (talk) 11:00, June 25, 2018 (UTC) :He is a British Military Officer. Back in the caves outside of Mechancicsburg, he was wearing a . With his cover blown, he was attached to the Jägers as an observer. Higgs is wearing a British Sigl. Tarvek is concerned as to how Higgs, a double agent for the Heterodynes and the Wulfenbach Empire, got on board. Does Wooster know about him being there? Come to think of it, has Wooster ever met Higgs? (I'll check my archives). --Fred1740 (talk) 11:13, June 25, 2018 (UTC) :P.S. "he's in trouble for having messed up somehow.". Yes, he did. See the above link. --Fred1740 (talk) 12:23, June 25, 2018 (UTC) :: I think the link you posted isn't one one you intended. It looks like you transposed two numbers in the date string. Here is the page I believe you were referring to: ::: Sorry about forgetting to sign last time. The paragraph above is from me. -- William Ansley (talk) 19:47, June 25, 2018 (UTC) :: But why should any of that worry Tarvek? I can see why it would worry Wooster, were he aware of Higgs's identity. Bkharvey (talk) 17:44, June 25, 2018 (UTC) (P.S. that paragraph just above isn't me!) :::(I saw the paragraph was unsigned earlier) REALLY?! When did Tarvek last see Higgs? Back in Castle Heterodyne. Tarvek is aware of Higgs dual agency. He is a Heterodyne minion - an unusual one at that - as well as a Wulfenbach Airman. And here he is - suddenly - on board a British submarine commanded by a Military Intelligence Officer. It is more surprise than worry. He can't just turn around and shout "HIGGS!". Plus, since he is a character in the story and not a reader of the story with all of a reader's knowledge, why should he be happy to see Higgs? I don't think Wooster knows who Higgs is. All the more reason for Tarvek to be a bit distressed to find him there. --Fred1740 (talk) 18:31, June 25, 2018 (UTC) ::::Right, Tarvek knows all that about Higgs. Maybe not that he's a Jägergeneral (technically, we don't know that either despite "Kid, we all did"), but that he's very old, very strong, and a Heterodyne partisan. ("Minion" seems insulting even if technically accurate.) And Tarvek is famously good at intrigue, and hasn't forgotten that empty chair. So, yeah, he gets it about Higgs. But since Tarvek is on Agatha's side in all this, and so is Higgs, the former should be delighted to see the latter, not worried. Let Albia be worried! Or, more immediately to the point, Wooster. But I still say Tarvek should be just as pleased to see Higgs as we are. Bkharvey (talk) 19:24, June 25, 2018 (UTC) :: On second thought, is Tarvek sweating in that last panel? Maybe the frown is just that he's personally afraid of Higgs, not without reason given their encounters in Castle Heterodyne. Bkharvey (talk) 18:12, June 25, 2018 (UTC) P.P.S. All those English Lit classes weren't wasted on me after all: I've just realized that Higgs is recapitulating Wooster's situation when we first meet him: hiding his exalted rank and importance to the plot by serving as a menial aide. Bkharvey (talk) 11:09, June 25, 2018 (UTC) : I would not be surprised if Higgs, under some alias or other, legitimately held rank in Albia's navy. --Geoduck42 (talk) 11:19, June 25, 2018 (UTC) :: Interesting. Why? We don't know of any military disputes between the Heterodynes and Albia; Klaus had such disputes, maybe, but Klaus doesn't know what Higgs is and wouldn't have sent him as an agent. I suppose I can imagine Higgs having started out English, and having formed the desire to be a Jäger and so emigrating. Bkharvey (talk) 18:01, June 25, 2018 (UTC) :::No one seems to know anything about Higgs - characters or readers - until after the Battle of Sturmhalten. At that point, it appears he had been hiding in the Wulfenbach Navy or Air Force or Dirigible Force or whatever. Up to that point, there was no Heterodyne as far as Higgs knew. Who knows what else he had been doing. Jenka referred to a spymaster, which apparently is Higgs. --Fred1740 (talk) 18:38, June 25, 2018 (UTC) ::: :::This is all total speculation on my part, but I have long worked from the assumption that Higgs is indeed the hidden Jagergeneral. And as Fred says, as a spymaster, gaining info on/access to rival powers would be critical. And if he's hundreds of years old, spending a decade or so establishing a genuine ID in Albia's navy would be chump change in terms of time invested. And there's definitely been Heterodyne/Albia conflict- there was a comment that if not for Barry, any Heterodynes visiting England would be ruthlessly dispatched. --Geoduck42 (talk) 19:36, June 25, 2018 (UTC) "A commander in the Royal Navy is above the rank of lieutenant commander, below the rank of captain, and is equivalent in rank to a lieutenant colonel in the army. A commander may command a frigate, destroyer, submarine, aviation squadron or shore installation, or may serve on a staff." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commander#United_Kingdom So his rank isn't as impressive as it sounds to these American ears. Bkharvey (talk) 18:12, June 25, 2018 (UTC) :That's about the general gist of the rank in the US Navy. O-5, right under Captain. --MadCat221 (talk) 03:53, June 26, 2018 (UTC) Also, "National Security Clearances are a hierarchy of five levels, depending on the classification of materials that can be accessed — Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), Counter-Terrorist Check (CTC), Enhanced Baseline Standard (EBS), Security Check (SC) and Developed Vetting (DV)." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_clearance#United_Kingdom So there's no such thing in our England as a "2-A." Bkharvey (talk) 19:37, June 25, 2018 (UTC) By the way, y'all probably find this too obvious to mention, but normally the people who serve tea don't tap princes on the shoulder. Higgs wants Tarvek to know he's there. Bkharvey (talk) 00:12, June 26, 2018 (UTC) Getting down to the level of trivia, is the cross between a squid and a jar of peanut butter outside the porthole in panel 3 a pun that's going over my head? Bkharvey (talk) 01:00, June 26, 2018 (UTC) : It's a peanut butter jellyfish. --Geoduck42 (talk) 01:43, June 26, 2018 (UTC) :: GROAN... Thank you for explaining that. I think. :-) Bkharvey (talk) 03:30, June 26, 2018 (UTC)